# Thaisa — Pericles character guide

> Thaisa in Pericles by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** dear Thaisa, the fair Thaisa

**First appearance:** 0009-act-ii-scene-iii

## Snapshot

A king's daughter who chooses the shipwrecked stranger over polished suitors, then vanishes into the sea's cruelty.

## Who they are

Thaisa moves through her father's court as a prize in a tournament of kings, but her attention fixes on the melancholy stranger from Tyre rather than the knights who arrive with titles and retinues. Her father tests Pericles in disguise, and she becomes the bridge between two kingdoms and two lonely people. When childbirth at sea turns her joy into a coffin, her absence becomes the wound that shapes the rest of Pericles's life.

## Relationships

### [Pericles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/pericles)

_romantic_

Pericles and Thaisa are husband and wife, deeply in love before she is presumed dead in childbirth.

### [Marina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/marina)

_family_

Thaisa is Marina's mother, separated at birth and reunited at the play's end.

### [Pericles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/pericles)

_romantic_

Pericles and Thaisa are husband and wife, deeply in love before she is presumed dead in childbirth.

### [Marina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/marina)

_family_

Thaisa is Marina's mother, separated at birth and reunited at the play's end.

### [Marina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/marina)

_family_

Thaisa is Marina's mother, separated at birth and reunited at the play's end.

## In the story

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-ii)

Sits as the prize of the tournament, explains each knight's shield and motto, including Pericles' withered branch.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-iii)

Crowns Pericles victor, feels attraction to him, and reluctantly obeys her father's command to engage the stranger knight.

### [Scene V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-v)

Expresses her love for Pericles in a letter and confirms her willingness to marry him.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-i)

Dies in childbirth at sea; her body is to be cast overboard.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-ii)

Awakens from death-like state after being washed ashore in a chest, asking for Diana and her lord.

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iv)

Recognizes her husband's letter, recalls being at sea, and resolves to become a vestal virgin.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-v-scene-iii)

Serves as high priestess at Diana's temple; faints upon recognizing Pericles, then joyfully reunites with him and Marina.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/thaisa
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters